FCC drop lead, draw Charlotte FC 2-2 in Queen City Derby
Damon Gumbert
“I thought it was a really strong performance that was a little bit overshadowed by a poor 10 minutes to begin the second half,” Head Coach Pat Noonan said after a 2-2 draw against Charlotte FC on Saturday. An apt description of an otherwise solid performance for the club that was ruined by two quick goals from Charlotte just after the restart.
As a drunk man said to me following the first half while I was standing to get a drink at Streetside Brewery, “That was the best half we’ve played all season.” I chuckled awkwardly, but he may have had a point.
Noonan put out a lineup that was similar to the recent string of wins, with Pavel Bucha out on the right wing, Bryan Ramirez on the left wing, and Dado Valenzuela in the defensive midfield. Sam Gidi moved back into the midfield with Matt Miazga and Nick Hagglund joining Andrei Chirila on the backline. Kenji Mboma Dem started with Kevin Denkey up top and Evander at the 10.
An interesting tidbit was that despite Miazga being back in the starting lineup, Evander kept the Captain’s Armband for the match, a possible sign of a change of leadership on the team.
Both teams came out strong, notching several attempts, blocks, and saves in the first 30 minutes. There was no clear team in charge of the match until the 35th minute. Dado drove the ball up the pitch and was fouled at the edge of the box by Djibril Diani. Evander and Mboma Dem stood over the ball with Evander striking at goal. Kristijan Kahlina was able to save the shot, but Denkey was there for the rebound and tapped the ball into the back of the net to open the scoring.
It was a wonderful sequence that showcased the talent and abilities of all involved. Dado has a unique ability to draw fouls in dangerous areas, something that the 21-year-old is fully aware of. According to Noonan, Evander has been working on his free kicks over the last couple of weeks, something he was already deadly at. Denkey showed his ability to react, being in the right place at the right time and notching his seventh goal of the season.
Seven minutes later, Evander doubled the score with a remarkable shot from outside the box, curving it into the top left corner of the goal, out of reach of a diving Kahlina. The goal, which had an expected goal (xG) of 3%, was “assisted” by Pavel Bucha, but was entirely an act of Evander brilliance that we haven’t seen as much this season as we had last season.
In the first half FCC outshot Charlotte 11 to five, according to FOTMOB. Five of those 11 shots were on target, with two being the goals. The club had 15 touches in the opposing box and a 91% accurate pass rating while only possessing the ball 47% of the half.
If that had been the end of the match, it would have been a wonderful night for The FC. Unfortunately, there was another half of soccer to be played.
Charlotte came out of the break with more intensity than Cincinnati did, being able to force several turnovers in bad positions early in the half. In the 51st minute, Charlotte got on board with a wonderful bit of set-piece work. Pep Biel took a short corner to Ashley Westwood, who then lobbed a ball into the box, finding the head of Tim Ream, who sent the ball back into the middle and to the head of Idan Toklomati and past Roman Celentano.
One minute later, Charlotte again found themselves in the FCC box, with Diani sending a pass to Biel in front of goal and sending the shot to the top of the net and past a diving Celentano. In two minutes, the match became even.
After that, not much happened. Miles Robinson came in to replace Miazga in the 56th minute, his first action since April 18th. Ender Echenique and Obinna Nwobodo, who has been out even longer than Robinson, came in for Dado and Gidi respectively in the 73rd minute. The final subs for Noonan’s side were Ayoub Lahjar, who signed a first-team deal with the club earlier in the day, and Tom Barlow, coming in for Ramirez and Mboma Dem, respectively.
There were not a lot of chances for either team late in this match, a middling end to a rather exciting match up to that point. FC Cincinnati dropped the two-goal lead but still managed to leave with a point, keeping their unbeaten streak alive at six matches.
Looking ahead at Wednesday’s match, it’s interesting to point out that Bucha, Chirila, Hagglund, Evander, and Denkey all played 90 minutes on Saturday. They have a short turnaround for a match against Inter Miami, the team that knocked FCC out of the playoffs last season on their way to winning the MLS Cup.
With the club getting healthier and players being added to the lineup sheet, it’ll be interesting to see what lineups Noonan uses over the next few weeks. Does Andrei Chirila continue to get starts with Miazga, Robinson, and Hagglund back? Do Gidi and Dado continue to start in the midfield with Nwobodo back? Bucha seems to be a current lock at playing on the wing, though Noonan did say that it is not a long-term plan to keep him there.
The good news about those bodies coming back is that there will be plenty of rotation over a very congested schedule coming in the rest of May. You can afford to give Denkey a break with the emergence of Mboma Dem on top of Barlow and Ayoub Jabbari, who missed this match with an injury.
Evander is a bit tougher, especially if you want to keep Dado in the starting lineup. Dado is the only other natural 10 that The FC has on the roster, meaning they would have to put someone in that spot that doesn’t normally play there, like Bucha or Mboma Dem, or change the formation entirely.
Wednesday’s match with Miami kicks off at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time at TQL Stadium. Tickets are still available, but you’ll be paying premium prices due to the Messi-effect.
All photos and videos are courtesy of FC Cincinnati.
